Washington Votes No On ‘Climate Change’ Initiative

I guess the liberals in Washington state didn’t really care to vote themselves a cost of living increase that would impact their own lives

(Puget Sound Business Journal) Washington state voters rejected the Initiative 732 proposal that would have created the first state carbon tax in the U.S.

About 59 percent of voters were rejecting the initiative Tuesday night at about 9:30 p.m.

Under the failed measure, the state would have levied a $15 per metric ton tax on carbon emissions starting in July 2017. The tax was proposed to grow to $25 per metric ton in July 2018 and increase 3.5 percent plus inflation each year until the tax reached $100 per metric ton.

The measure also would have reduced the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

Washington Democrats were against the measure, since it gave citizens tax breaks, and they wanted people to feel the pain for daring to drive fossil fueled vehicles.

“Grassroots activism accomplished what many environmental leaders and media pundits said was impossible: we put a revenue-neutral carbon tax on the ballot,” Carbon Washington founder and co-chair Yoram Bauman said in a prepared statement. “While we did not pass the nation’s first carbon tax, many states around the country are looking at I-732 as a model and we expect a nationwide movement to take root in the years ahead. We will look back at this as a lost opportunity to create history in Washington State, but also as a catalyst for much needed U.S. leadership on climate action.”

Carbon Washington will continue its work at the Legislature “and to promote effective, equitable, economically sound and politically viable carbon pricing in other states and in Washington, D.C.,” co-chair Joe Ryan said.

If the Warmists want to lead, they should make their own lives carbon neutral. Here we see, though, getting beyond all the spin, that a majority refuse to pay through the nose for their own beliefs. They don’t think they should suffer the consequences of their own regressive beliefs.

Meanwhile, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada look to have approved the use of recreational marijuana. A few other states appear to have passed it’s use for medical purposes. All in violation of federal law.

Colorado, Maine and Arizona voters approved minimum-wage measures, raising the wage to $12 by 2020. Washington voters approved a plan raising the wage to $13.50 over the next four years.

The nearby states will be thrilled to accept the companies who escape those states.

Oh, and the People’s Republik Of Brokeifornia overturned their ban on single use plastic bags. Guess they prefer convenience over climate doom.